The Bad Seed Page #9

...my landlady here...

...is a kind of amateur psychiatrist,

a devotee of Freud's...

...constantly analyzing.

- I know the type.

- You'll meet her. Her name is Breedlove.

She's offered a room for you

to stay in while you're here.

Rhoda's upstairs

having dinner with her right now.

You were going

to come out with something.

Yes, well, what I was going to ask

reminded me of her.

I confessed to her the other day

that I'd always been...

...worried about being an adopted child,

and that...

...I was afraid that Mommy

wasn't really my mother...

...and that the daddy that I...

That I love so much...

...wasn't really mine.

- What'd she say?

- She said that it was...

...the commonest of childhood fantasies,

that everybody had it...

...that she'd had it herself.

Well, it certainly is common.

Yes, but that doesn't help me,

because, you see...

...I still feel that old fear...

...that you're not really mine.

Has something made you

think about this lately?

- Yes.

- What is it?

My little girl, Rhoda.

- What about her?

- Oh, Daddy, I'm terrified...

I'm afraid for her.

I'm afraid of what she might've

inherited from me.

What could she have inherited?

- Nothing but sweetness and...

- Daddy.

Father...

...whose child am I?

- Why, mine.

- Oh, no, Daddy, please don't lie to me now.

It's gone beyond the time

where that will help. I...

I've told you about a dream I have,

but I'm not sure it's only a dream.

Whose child am I?

Are you my father?

Oh, I know this is a strange question

to greet you with...

...after having been so long away

from you...

...but for Rhoda's sake and my sake,

I must know.

- What has Rhoda done?

- I don't know, but I'm afraid.

Christine, even if it were true, well...

...just remember, all this

inheritance stuff is pure rubbish.

All thumbs and webbed feet.

I'm sorry.

I won't ask any more questions.

Right, darling.

Let's just close the book.

Besides...

...I know the answer now.

- Answer?

- Yes.

Christine, I've been a very fortunate man.

If it hadn't been for you

becoming part of my life...

...all these years would've been

empty and lonely and unbearable.

The greatest piece of luck I ever had

was a little girl named Christine.

You were the only child I ever had.

As I said, you were magic for me.

I was happy and proud to keep going,

just for you.

You don't have to say any more.

- I don't, do I?

- No.

You found me somewhere.

Yes.

In a very strange place.

- In a strange way.

- Oh, Daddy, I know the place.

I don't think you could have.

You were less than 2 years old.

Well, then if I don't know it,

I guess I must've dreamed it.

What kind of dream?

On, Daddy, I...

I dream of a bedroom in a farmhouse

in a countryside where there are orchards.

I share the room with my brother,

who's older than I am.

One night, somebody... ls it my mother?

...she comes to take care of him and...

She's a lovely lady.

She's beautiful, like an angel.

And later, I guess my brother must've died

because I'm alone in the room.

One night, I'm terrified

to be in that room another minute.

Somehow, I get out of bed,

it's moonlight.

And I get out the window,

drop to the ground below...

...and I hide myself in the deep weeds

beyond the first orchard.

And then I don't remember very much else,

except that towards morning, I'm...

I'm thirsty and I begin to eat the yellow

pippins that fall from the trees...

...and then when the first light comes up

on the clouds...

...I can hear my mother's voice...

...calling to me from the distance,

and I don't answer her because I'm afraid.

Now, is that a dream?

Is that only a dream?

What name did she call?

Well, it isn't Christine.

Could it be Ingold?

- You remember that name?

- Yes, yes, Daddy.

It's coming back to me now. Lngold.

"Ingold Denker," she's call...

Denker.

On, Daddy.

You've kept this from me all these years?

I came out of that terrible household?

That's where you found me?

The neighbors found you

after your mother disappeared.

I discovered you with them

before anybody.

The most astonishingly

sweet and beautiful little thing...

...with the most

enchanting smile I've ever seen.

Oh...

As Tasker said, I was there covering

the case for a Chicago newspaper.

I wired my wife and she joined me.

- We couldn't resist you.

- Oh, Daddy.

Oh, God, help me. God, help me.

Why didn't you just leave me there?

Why didn't I die in the orchard...

...and end the agony there?

It was the neighbors

who found you and saved you.

Would you rather have stayed with them?

No. You...

You've been a wonderful father. It's...

It's that awful place and that evil woman.

My mother.

There are places and events in

every man's life he'd rather not remember.

- Don't let it hurt you now. It's past.

- Daddy, I wish...

I Wish I had died then.

I Wish it. I Wish it.

It hasn't mattered where you came from.

You've been sound and sweet and loving.

You've given me more

than I ever gave or could ever repay.

If you'd been my very own,

I couldn't have hoped for more.

You've known

nothing but love and kindness from us...

...and you've given nothing but love and

kindness and sweetness all of your life.

Kenneth loves you,

and you've made him infinitely happy...

...and Rhoda's a sweet,

perfectly sound little girl.

Is she, Father?! ls she?!

- What has she done?

- It's as if she'd been born blind.

- It doesn't happen. It cannot happen.

- Well...

Excuse me, please,

but Rhoda has tired of her puzzle...

...finished her dinner,

and now she wants a book.

- Well, we haven't even started yet.

- And I haven't met Mr. Bravo.

How do you do?

I'm Mrs. Breedlove, the oversized analyst.

I'm going to put you up,

and I promise not to annoy you.

Well, you know what newspapermen

are like:
crusty, bitter, irascible.

- If you can put up with me,

you're a saint. - Granddaddy.

- Rhoda.

- Isn't she perfection?

Next to Daddy, you lift me up best.

Why do you look at me?

I just wanna see your face.

You know, Mr. Bravo, these Penmarks are the

most enchanting neighbors I've ever had.

Now I'll want Rhoda

for dinner every night.

Thank you, Aunt Monica.

Tell me, Mr. Bravo,

didn't you write the Fingerprint series?

I'm afraid I was guilty of that

about 20 years ago.

I read the first volume to pieces

and wept over it...

...till the parts I loved most were

illegible, then bought another.

- Well, I've finally met my public.

- I don't disappoint you?

Anyway, I'm large.

I like people who read books to pieces.

It's good for royalties.

Uh...

It's time I began to get our dinner.

Maybe I better find my room

and get ready for the evening.

- I'll take you, if you care to go.

- If you'll be so kind.

It's the next floor above.

Good night, Christine.

Ah.

- What are you doing?

- Nothing.

Is that for the incinerator?

- Yes.

- But what is it?

It's just some things you told me

to throw away.

No!

- You let me see what's in the package.

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